Creating rituals and routines are great for classroom management and provide stability for LD students.
1. Sign-In Board a. Ask ‘how are you?’ and give 4 options in the target language for students to choose from, common language or target language. b. Each day when they arrive, they read the options and sign-in one quadrant – whiteboard works well! c. Helpful hint: use cognates until words are taught in class d. Other applications – sign in on a social issues/moral dilemmas or preference options using target vocabulary.
2. Free Voluntary Reading & Story Time
a. Build a classroom library, try Free Voluntary Reading with partners, or Kindergarten-style ‘story time’ in which all students sit in front (pillows or blankets make this a fun and comfy activity!)
b. Identifying the levels of the books beforehand will help students select books to read successfully, or have students select books from each level and then pick the one they want to read without getting up and down repeatedly.
3. Establish Identities (Ben Slavic)
a. In getting to know your students, create appropriate nicknames for them for your class. You may choose to add a ‘naming ceremony’. Great way to reinforce their strengths, for example, the best trumpet player in the world or the fastest kid in the universe.
b. Nicknames can also come from their in-class jobs - President, vice-president, PROFE 2, ‘bolt’, drum roll king, permanent one-word responders (see Gimmicks).
4. Use Hand Gestures (Berty Segal) a. Great to use with vocabulary words- write it down, translate it or define it and try to create a corresponding gesture. Continue using gestures as needed! When I can’t think of a gesture I ask the kids or investigate the sign language gesture online. b. Assign specific gestures for students to communicate with you, for example, slow down (lower both hands to the table) or I don’t understand/know that word (make a fist and punch it into your other hand). c. Hand puppets or small stuffed animals are great for gesturing, reinacting events, acting out processes (chemical bonding, electrons around a nucleus), etc... Particularly useful for the students who don’t want to get up and a. Pick up some small stuffed animals at garage sales or ask kids to bring in old ones they don’t want anymore.
1. Sign-In Board
a. Ask ‘how are you?’ and give 4 options in the target language for students to choose from, common language or target language.
b. Each day when they arrive, they read the options and sign-in one quadrant – whiteboard works well!
c. Helpful hint: use cognates until words are taught in class
d. Other applications – sign in on a social issues/moral dilemmas or preference options using target vocabulary.
2. Free Voluntary Reading & Story Time
a. Build a classroom library, try Free Voluntary Reading with partners, or Kindergarten-style ‘story time’ in which all students sit in front (pillows or blankets make this a fun and comfy activity!)
b. Identifying the levels of the books beforehand will help students select books to read successfully, or have students select books from each level and then pick the one they want to read without getting up and down repeatedly.
3. Establish Identities (Ben Slavic)
a. In getting to know your students, create appropriate nicknames for them for your class. You may choose to add a ‘naming ceremony’. Great way to reinforce their strengths, for example, the best trumpet player in the world or the fastest kid in the universe.
b. Nicknames can also come from their in-class jobs - President, vice-president, PROFE 2, ‘bolt’, drum roll king, permanent one-word responders (see Gimmicks).
4. Use Hand Gestures (Berty Segal)
a. Great to use with vocabulary words- write it down, translate it or define it and try to create a corresponding gesture. Continue using gestures as needed! When I can’t think of a gesture I ask the kids or investigate the sign language gesture online.
b. Assign specific gestures for students to communicate with you, for example, slow down (lower both hands to the table) or I don’t understand/know that word (make a fist and punch it into your other hand).
c. Hand puppets or small stuffed animals are great for gesturing, reinacting events, acting out processes (chemical bonding, electrons around a nucleus), etc... Particularly useful for the students who don’t want to get up and a. Pick up some small stuffed animals at garage sales or ask kids to bring in old ones they don’t want anymore.